January 10, 2025

Law Week Colorado Interviews Heather Vickles on AI, Hiring Practices, and Discrimination

2 min

Heather Vickles spoke with Law Week Colorado on disability discrimination in hiring systems that use AI. The following is an excerpt:

Recently, the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology, an organization funded by a wing of the U.S. Department of Labor, released guidance on using AI in hiring. The framework focused on making sure that hiring processes that use AI are more inclusive for disabled individuals and covered 10 separate focus areas.

Heather Vickles, partner at Venable, told Law Week via email that the framework’s intention is to curb disability discrimination in hiring practices that use AI. She noted that the framework was optional and that there were parts that she found useful for companies to know and other sections that she wouldn’t apply.

“To briefly summarize the guidance, we are taking the beginning steps in a very long journey of AI in the workplace,” Vickles said. “Employers should pace themselves and move strategically when deploying AI.”

“Employers cannot simply deploy AI, kick back, and relax; human involvement and oversight throughout the life cycle of AI systems is important for mitigating disability discrimination and providing reasonable accommodations,” Vickles said. “Employers should remember that AI in the workplace can help mitigate, or exacerbate, other forms of discrimination.”

“I think the #1 takeaway from the Department of Labor is that AI in hiring should not be wholly automated. Without proper human oversight, systems that are designed to mitigate bias may create the opposite outcomes,” Vickles added.

For the full article, click here.